Lily Cole rocks social media after posting burqa selfies | Lily Col

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Lily Cole has apologized for posting a photo online of her wearing a burqa as part of an effort to promote her new book.

The model and activist was criticized for posting the same week Kabul fell to the Taliban, raising concerns about women’s rights in Afghanistan.

Her Instagram story, which has been deleted, contained two photos: one with a blue burqa covering her face and body, and another in which the dress was pulled back to show her face.

The caption read: “Let’s embrace diversity at every level – biodiversity; cultural diversity; diversity of thinking; diversity of voices; diversity of ideas.”

Among those who challenged her was an Instagram user who told her that the Taliban had forced women to wear the burqa.

This comes at a time when women in Afghanistan are talking about their fears of taking away their rights, which they fought so hard. In a report for The Guardian last week, a woman from Kabul spoke of shopkeepers haggling over the rapidly inflating burqa prices.

As the Taliban’s recent advance accelerated, the burqa was again pulled from storerooms and dusty cupboards by women who remembered life under the Islamist group’s rule.

Cole then wrote in an apology statement that she had posted an “old photo” of her wearing a burqa that a friend lent her.

“I also made it clear that I was undermining its original intent by wearing it with my face uncovered, but I understand why the photo upset people and I want to sincerely apologize for any insult that occurred,” Cole said.

“I hadn’t read the news at the time the news was posted so it was very poorly timed. Thanks for pointing me this out.”

She said her heart was breaking when she read about events in Afghanistan and was looking for organizations to help women on the ground there.

Writer Janice Turner wrote of the model’s original post: “Lily Cole and the modern feminist hashtag space. Putting Instagram posts before universal human rights. I bet Afghan women celebrate the ‘diversity’ of wearing this shroud.”

Cole’s original publication was used to promote her new book, Who Cares Wins. Its publisher, Penguin, describes it as offering “a plethora of solutions guaranteed to inspire and create lasting global change.”

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